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| Cumulative genetic changes that occur over time in a population of organisms; evolution explains many patterns observed in the natural world |
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| Evolutionary modification that improves the chances of survival and reproductive success of the population in its environment |
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| The process in which better-adapted individuals–those with a combination of genetic traits better suited to environmental conditions–more likely to survive and reproduce, increasing their proportion in the population |
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| Each species produces more offspring than will survive to maturity. |
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| The individuals of a population exhibit variation. Each individual has a unique combination of traits (size, color, ability to tolerate enviro conditions) which improve the chances of said individual’s survival and reproductive success. |
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| Limits on population growth, or a struggle for existence |
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| Organisms compete with one another for the limited resources available. Diseases and predators are other limits. |
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| Differential reproductive success |
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| Those individual with a favorable combo of traits pass on said traits to their offspring. |
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| (1809-1882) proposed the idea of evolution. |
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| The process of community development over time, which involves species in one stage being replaced by different species. |
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| A stable and persistent community. |
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| The change in species composition over time in a previously uninhabited environment |
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| The word used to describe the initial community that develops during primary succession. |
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| Developed the concept of succession 1880s (sand dunes around Lake Michigan). |
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| The change in species composition that takes place after some disturbance destroys the existing vegetation; soil is already present |
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| Any intimate relationship or association between members of two or more species; includes mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. |
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| The partners of a symbiotic relationship |
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| The interdependent evolution of two interacting species |
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| A symbiotic relationship in which both partners benefit |
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| Algae that live inside coral animals and have a mutualistic relationship with them |
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| A mutualistic association between a fungus and the roots of a plant. Most plants form mycorrhizal associations with fungi, which enables plants to absorb adequate amounts of essential minerals from the soil. |
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| Environmental factors, whether natural or human-induced, that tax an organism’s ability to thrive |
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| A type of symbiosis in which one organism benefits and the other one is neither harmed nor helped |
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| Small organisms that grow on other organisms but are not parasitic on them. Small plants that live attached to the bark of a tree’s branches are epiphytes. |
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| A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is adversely affected |
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| The division of habitats that formerly occupied large, unbroken areas into smaller areas by roads, fields, cities, and other land-transforming activities |
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| When a parasite causes disease and sometimes the death of a host |
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| The consumption of one species (the prey) by another (the predator) |
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| Type of coverage on an organism that acts as a warning to predators |
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| The interaction among organisms that vie for the same resources (such as food or living space) in an ecosystem |
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| Competition among individuals within a population |
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| Competition between species |
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| The totality of an organism’s adaptations, its use of resources, and the lifestyle to which it is fitted |
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| The local environment in which an organism lives |
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| The potential, idealized ecological niche of an organism |
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| The lifestyle an organism actually pursues and the resources it actually uses |
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| "Any environmental resource that, because it is scarce or at unfavorable levels, restricts the ecological niche of an organism" |
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| Competitive exclusion (Gaussian Exclusion) |
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| Process in which one species excludes another from a portion of a niche as a result of competition between species (interspecific competition) |
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| 1934 Russian biologist conducted experiments regarding competition between species |
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| The reduction in competition for environmental resources, such as food, that occurs among coexisting species as a result of each species’ niche differing from the others in one or more ways |
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| Study 5 different warbler species = resource partitioning |
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| A species, often a predator that exerts a profound influence on a community in excess of that expected by its relative abundance |
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| The number of different species in a community |
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| A transitional zone where two or more communities meet (diverse) |
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| Change in species composition produced at ecotones |
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| Important environmental benefits, such as clean air to breathe, H20, and fertile soil in which to grow crops, that ecosystems provide |
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| The ability of a community to withstand environmental disturbances |
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